smartalec13

Yes haha. The pearling, especially when I have the filter off so it’s more noticeable, is insane.

Just to show how it looked earlier on, about 1 month after setup

Thank you :)

I have 3 Gold Honey Gourami gals (Sheila, Dierdre, and Kimberly), along with 6 Pygmy Corys (I want to get 6 more but my LFS is out), and a colony of red cherry shrimp.

60p is the tank name from ADA. 60 being the cm wide measurement, and p being the shape. In this case it’s a bit taller than deep.

Flora (back left to front right…) = Cardamine Lyrata, Rotala Indica, Ludwigia Diamond, Ludwigia (no clue), Hydrocotyle Tripartita, (no clue on the two types on left), Monte Carlo, various crypt & Anubias.

Fauna = some Pygmy Cory catfish and a colony of red shrimp. Not shown here is my new Gold Honey Gourami :)

And sounds good, nothing wrong with taking a break for a while

Thank you :) originally I had Caridina Pure Red Line shrimp, but unfortunately they suffered because I couldn’t keep parameters nice for them (I believe the bags of pea gravel are leeching minerals) so there are only 2 or so left. So I got some Neocaridina Red Cherry shrimp and they are thriving, there’s like 30 now. I also have 12 Pygmy Cory’s

Thank you :) glad to inspire

The original post is the day after setup, once the dust had settled, July 13th 2024.

The next photo, first one on this comment, is mid November 2024.

The final, colorful one is taken today :)

I’m going to agree with others that this isn’t very specific to DnD, so shouldn’t be posted here.

Now if you were asking about toxic masculinity experienced at the DnD table, then it would be more appropriate.

A small, sillier one is two of my players constantly feel the need to one-up each other when it comes to height or muscles in-game. We started a new campaign and one person mentioned their character was 6ft. One of these two goes “well my character is 6’4”” and then the other (not the first) goes “well my character is 7ft”.

Like guys do we really need to do this, in DnD?

I plan on getting a timer for these, but currently I turn them on and off manually. I only have them on when the over-tank lights are on, so 1pm to 8pm. Sometimes I’ll turn the backlight off early.

So far I’m not sure if it bothers the fish, they seem to be acting normal

It definitely was expensive and unecessary lol I won’t deny. And thanks :)

Meh like I said I’ve looked at other ones a bit. Pathfinder 2, Genesys, some various one-page RPGs etc. I just come back to my beloved 5e.

But I do hear you on it, it’s not like I’m not open, but I know what I prefer and I know what my players prefer, for the most part.

I’m sure there are many great flavors of ice cream out there, but mint is my favorite and if it’s an option it’s what I’m gonna order, if that makes sense.

Yes and no.

Yes - if you can find a good group with good vibes, it’s some of the best. Laughing with friends about dice rolls and the ridiculous shenanigans they result in.

No - if you don’t do well learning rules equivalent to a boardgame. You do need to learn some rules to play, but it’s not a ton, and you can try to find good DMs who cater to new players. BUT again if you get frustrated by bad luck, learning rules, etc then maybe not.

Maybe - try watching a let’s play? Critical Role or similar. Keep in mind your average game isn’t professional, but this can at least show you relatively what to expect with the amount of rules and stuff.

I DMed for my fiancés family on an RV road trip first. It was fun and casual, just two or three times.

Then that summer I started a camp game. I had a satchel that perfectly fit my notebook and PHB, so during staff training I walked around recruiting staff to play. I intended to have 4-5 players and ended up with 35 interested. We did have that much the first session - everyone just had their own goblin to fight lol and they decided action with “council vote” lol. But after 2-3 sessions the numbers dropped off, as most were just there to try it and obviously it wasn’t true DnD. But most also weren’t able to, they had duties, but us support staff could play on our nights free.

I also DMed a game online, then some after school programs, and then I finally started my first home game. It was my first “serious” campaign.

Yeah I have done a few short campaigns for kids. In general my advice is lowing your expectations and simplifying the game. And of course, making sure the themes don’t get too dark.

With a 5 or under, you’ll want to keep things to just simple choices and results, less character sheets and specific skills.
In similar vain, they aren’t playing 5e Tiefling Sorcerer with all the specific features and spells. They’re wizard or they’re knight or they’re princess warrior or whatever they decide to be. I mean you can try doing actual sheets, but I feel like kids that young won’t do well with it
Unsure on dice, but if you’re worried about them you could get large novelty foam dice, it would be fun
Game systems can be visually displayed for the kids. Money is candy pieces or cereal or something. Health are toothpicks (colored red for extra effect) that they break when lost.
Obviously, don’t describe the details of violence. Keep it Marvel, they “beat them up”. There aren’t blood altars and nightmarish monsters.
If you’re going to play with character sheets, make custom ones with very easy to find abilities and features. And don’t bother with ribbon/fluff abilities like Dwarven stonecunning.

Now, if the kids were a bit older (12-8) then you could use character sheets and add a bit more of the details back. But again, there will still be things to keep in mind.

Most kids don’t do great at actually roleplaying as a character they created. Some might struggle with making the character. If it’s easier to just pick a character from a piece of media (“I wanna be Thor!”) that works. Often it’s fine that kids just insert themselves - their characters are them.
Beware the self insert - when kids experience loss, it can be rough, depending on the kid. Some are real champs and it rolls right off of them, they understand it’s part of the game. But others, character death isn’t something they can handle. Try to gauge which type your kids are, and don’t be afraid to lean the dice in their favor now and then.
Have a safety net. Maybe they’ve got an experienced retired veteran with them. They can’t normally fight because they’re old and retired, but if a fight goes bad maybe they spring into action! Key is to focus on helping the players, not taking the spotlight. But I’ve found overall that kids like having a cool older/veteran character around. Or maybe, they safety net is like a revival necklace that gives them 3 lives - it’ll feel a bit videogamey but Jumanji-like movies are popular for a reason

Finally, yes kinda. While working at a coding center for kids (learn to code and play videogames) I ran a weekend DnD club program, and we had a range of 7 to 13. I used some of the strategies above, though I did use real character sheets with them that we color coded.

Success with age gap relies on the two kids understanding and accepting that things will be uneven but that’s okay. Not something you always need to ask them, some kids and especially siblings do well naturally at just enjoying the game itself.

Sorry that’s a lot! I used to be a camp counselor and teacher so DnD with kids is right up my alley

lol I wish

And personally, every time I have dabbled into other systems it just makes me like 5e more lol

Online! There are a lot of online places to find groups. Roll20, the LFG subreddit, Facebook groups, etc.

I’ve found groups online and DMed them.

I just advise that you look for groups accepting brand new players, and find ones that stick closer to the rules.

If a player character dies, I try to make sure it is meaningful in the moment. They get their last words or their dramatic fall to the ground, and depending on the character, they might receive some vision based on their god or whatever.

Moving on past it, usually the player whose character died chills for the moment. Assuming the party has no way of reviving them at the moment, there is usually an in-game discussion on if reviving them is even an option. Out of game we might also talk briefly about if the player wants a new character, or if they want to be revived.

Assuming the revival can’t happen that session, I’ll have the player make a new character and I’ll make sure they are introduced within the first hour of the next session. I hate, hate, hate nothing more as a player than having a session where I literally sit out waiting to be introduced (happened to me twice) for hours IRL.

The only really hard part is if that character had important backstory stuff tied to the big main stuff going on. Just need to be creative, find a way that the plot can still move forward. Or, perhaps it changes the direction the campaign goes - never be afraid to toss your plans out the window.

As for balancing things, it’s truly a trick. I would start softer and ramp it up. The most important piece is learning what your party is currently capable of, and how much punishment they can take before they would break. But never forget three things.

Action economy is king. The more actions one side can take, the sooner they can win. Remember that if one player falls, it not only means that player is down, it means the rest of the party must now fight even harder AND use action economy to perhaps heal/save them or at least protect them from further harm.
The dice can truly be a blessing or a bane (hah). You can handcraft a “perfectly balanced” encounter but the dice will force a different story. Even just the initiative roll can decide combat: once I was a player, around lvl 10 or 12 or so. We got ambushed at night by a fire giant. Rolled initiative, fire giant went last, with me just before. Everyone hammered into it, and then I finished it off with Disintegrate. It didn’t even get a chance to move lol. On the flip side, I’ve seen easy encounters become practically deadly because of bad dice rolls.
(Super illegal tip, keep this on the hush) You can adjust encounters on the fly. You can change the monsters HP. You can add more monsters in or take them away. You can fudge a roll and say the bugbear trips. You can give the TRex the ability to teleport. You should not get in the habit of doing this - if you are adjusting on the fly, it implies that you are controlling the encounter to go how you want it to go, which means removing player agency. Bad. BUT if you’re a new DM and you accidentally make an encounter WAY TOO easy/hard, this is your secret weapon. Key tip with this: once info is known, don’t change it, unless there’s a reason. So if your players attack a Wyvern and a 15 hits, then a 15 should be a hit every time, unless maybe thematically that hit ruined/removed its scales and so you lower the AC.

Sorry that’s a lot lol

smartalec13

@ smartalec13 @lemmy.world

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smartalec13

My 60p aquascape, about 7-8 months

My 60p aquascape, about 7-8 months

My 60p aquascape, about 7-8 months

My 60p aquascape, about 7-8 months

My 60p aquascape, about 7-8 months

My 60p aquascape, about 7-8 months

Rescape after moving

Rescape after moving

Tanks are an evolving art piece

Tanks are an evolving art piece

Tanks are an evolving art piece

Tanks are an evolving art piece

What kinds of toxic masculinity have you encountered?

If you can afford them, lightscreens really do make a difference, damn

If you can afford them, lightscreens really do make a difference, damn

If you can afford them, lightscreens really do make a difference, damn

If you can afford them, lightscreens really do make a difference, damn

Officially have been a DM for 10yrs - AMA

Officially have been a DM for 10yrs - AMA

Officially have been a DM for 10yrs - AMA

Officially have been a DM for 10yrs - AMA

Officially have been a DM for 10yrs - AMA

Officially have been a DM for 10yrs - AMA

Officially have been a DM for 10yrs - AMA

Officially have been a DM for 10yrs - AMA

The biggest snail in my aquarium: Jasnah.

My aquascape! Had it going for about 8 months now. CRS, Red Cherry, and Pygmy Cory catfish